A Kashmiri Herath- A Child’s Perspective
Kush Kaul
Herath – also acknowledged as Shivratri – is a festival, where we pray to the Lord Shiva, and ask him to better our lives and eradicate any wrongdoing from ourselves. This has a great significance to us, as a Kashmiri Pandit community, and I feel that, alongside praying, this is a way to embrace our culture and traditions.
The days before, there was immense preparation going on, and, while observing my parents, now as I’m older, I feel that there is always pressure that living in a foreign land to their birthplace, trying to do this puja has always been a big thing for them, trying to get as close as it was before their displacement. Before the 2-day-puja, there was a lot of cleaning and this is because the whole house has to be pristine; ready for Shiva’s puja.
Our puja, a vatuk (a big puja), was about 2 and a half hours, however, I only stayed for 30 ish minutes. On the phone, there were instructions for the puja, and he talked very quickly. Obviously, I didn’t completely understand the puja, but, I was taught small things, like how walnuts are used in Herath puja. The regular ‘you will have to carry on these traditions’ from my parents. And how a tilak, is a symbol of devotion and purity. At the end of the puja, we put a tilak or tikka (made from sandalwood and ash) on each person and a nirven, on each person, which males have to put on their right hand and females on their left ( a bit sexist in my opinion).
The second day, is Salaam, roughly translating to greetings, and is most important day, where, traditionally, you visit Shiva temples, however, away from homelands, it is a day where you eat a lot of food, and receive something called herath kharach where you get money from your parents. In general, this day is more chilled out, and less work and labour than the actual puja day (like boxing day, but for Kashmiri people ).
This has been a great experience, and insightful realising that, us, as the new generation of Kashmiris, that we have to do this when we get older. It has been a pleasure to write this article, even though I’ve had to fight off a lot of red, squiggly lines .
2 Comments
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Mrinalini Safaya
God bless you.
Thanks for writing your perspective down. It’s absolutely difficult for this generation to visualise and understand all this through our eyes. We try our best to present our understanding of rituals by performing them using all the available resources.
I am sure you will do the same when it’s your turn. 🙂
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sundeep kaul
My Dear Kush, this is a wonderfully engaging and thoughtful piece that captures Herath through a genuinely fresh and personal lens. Your humour really shines through — from surviving only part of a long puja, to the Boxing Day comparison, and even the battle with the “red squiggly lines.” These moments give the writing warmth and authenticity while still conveying genuine respect for tradition and culture.
I could personally relate strongly to many of the sentiments you describe, having grown up outside India myself — and your reflections about your parents, in particular, really resonated. The effort to recreate traditions away from one’s homeland, and the quiet pressure parents feel to preserve what was once natural to them, is something many of us recognise deeply. You’ve captured that intergenerational experience with insight, humour, and sensitivity. A very enjoyable and heartfelt read — i loved it Kush.